1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting element having a plurality of elastic contacts to be connected to conducting portions of a circuit component, such as a circuit board and an IC package, and a circuit connecting device that positions and connects the connecting element to the circuit component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175859, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,362, discloses a connecting element in which a plurality of spiral elastic contacts are provided on one side of a plate-shaped support member and a plurality of fixed contacts are provided on the other side of the support member, the fixed contacts being conductively connected to the respective elastic contacts in one-to-one correspondence.
The fixed contacts of the connecting element are brought into contact with respective conducting portions provided on a motherboard. Then, in that state, spherical connecting terminals of an IC package are pressed against the elastic contacts of the connecting element. Accordingly, the spherical connecting terminals of the IC package are individually connected to the respective conducting portions on the motherboard via the connecting elements.
According to this invention, the IC package can be replaced since the spherical connecting terminals of the IC package are connected to the elastic contacts of the connecting element by being elastically pressed against the elastic contacts.
When the connecting element described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175859 is used, it is necessary to fix the connecting element to the motherboard such that the fixed contacts provided on the connecting element are accurately positioned on the respective conducting portions of the motherboard in one-to-one correspondence. In addition, when the IC package is placed on the connecting element, it is necessary to position the IC package such that the spherical terminals provided on the IC package are positioned on the respective elastic contacts of the connecting element in one-to-one correspondence.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175859 discloses a structure in which the motherboard has a holder for holding the IC package at both sides thereof and the IC package is positioned and held by this holder. However, a structure for positioning the plate-shaped support member of the connecting element on the motherboard is not clearly described. In this type of circuit connecting device, to accurately connect the terminals provided on the IC package to the respective conducting portions provided on the motherboard, it is necessary to accurately position and fix the connecting element to the motherboard.
In addition, also when a connecting element having terminals on top and bottom faces thereof is mounted on a motherboard at an arbitrary position and an IC package or the like is mounted on the connecting element so that the motherboard and the IC package or the like are conductively connected to each other by the connecting element, it is necessary to accurately position and fix the connecting element to the motherboard. However, when the size of the components is reduced and the circuit density is increased, the size of the contacts provided on the connecting element is reduced and the density of the contacts is increased. Therefore, it becomes difficult to position the connecting element such that the contacts on the connecting element reliably face the respective conducting portions on the motherboard.